Page 5 - Ideas
P. 5
The gameplay: a student-centric approach are then given a week to discuss in groups of 4 to 5
about how they would implement the various conceptual
One of the key aspects of the Capacity Game involves ideas. In the process, they are compelled to make more
requiring students to anticipate future changes to price informed capacity and production related decisions, not
and demand, based on which they are to make decisions unlike those confronting industry professionals.
about capacity expansion and amount of production
across multiple time points. The value of the game, as When the game is played in class, each group acts as a
Fang Xin said, was to make these challenging concepts company and competes with rival groups across a set
“more concrete”. Students are also more immersed in number of periods. During each period, groups are
the learning process, as they have to think through presented with a list of pre-determined values and costs,
different strategies. “Students need to think like a such as past demand and prices, manufacturing costs,
manager, to be more specific and provide solutions to operating costs, inventory costs, capacity expansion
questions,” Fang Xin remarked. costs, lead time to build capacity and interest rates,
among others. Students need to use the listed
Fang Xin interweaves the game into his lesson. He first information to predict the following: (1) demand of the
introduces a problem setting and uses it to contextualise current period, (2) price of the current period, and (3)
the conceptual ideas about capacity expansion. Students
